Carnival Nightmare: Children Stuck Hanging Upside-Down From Roller Coaster For Hours

Seven children and one adult experienced a nightmare at a Wisconsin amusement park as they were left suspended upside-down for more than four hours when a roller-coaster got stuck mid-ride.

The incident occurred on Sunday at the Forest County Festival in Crandon on a ride named the Fireball. The City of Antigo Fire Department, about 40 miles from the scene, was called because it had a truck with a platform.

Scary video shows riders at a county festival in Crandon, Wisconsin stuck upside down on a ride. The video is from Scott Brass, who says the ride was stuck hanging upside down for more than four hours. More: https://t.co/2JFYQQ4mUD pic.twitter.com/Mk2PrbLFc9

— CBS 58 News (@CBS58) July 3, 2023

“We had about a 35 to 40 minutes travel time, so during that time obviously the anticipation is building,” City of Antigo Fire Department Firefighter/EMT, Erica Kostichka, who walked the children and adult from the ride when they were rescued, said. “The ride had malfunctioned and we had people who were upside down.”

“You know a lot of [the kids] you could tell, their legs were shaking, they were sweating, and it was just a matter of letting them know, ‘Hey this is no race to get down to the finish line, the hard part is over,’” Kostichka said. “They were very brave.”

“All we know that there is a mechanical failure with the ride where it became stuck in the upright position the ride was recently inspected by the state of Wisconsin here on site and at this time, we do not have any other information,” Captain Brennan Cook of the Crandon Fire Department stated.

One young girl reportedly told the rescuers to first tend to an older man who was on the ride. “That little girl deserves a medal of courage for sure,” witness Scott Brass, who videotaped the incident, said.

“It’s always a great opportunity when you can work with other agencies and it flows good, and the outcome comes out the way it was,” Kostichka concluded.

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The local community started the festival, in which the rides are free,  a few years ago at the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway, hosted by the Forest County Potawatomi Community, Forest County Potawatomi Chairman James Crawford previously said:

We just need more activities for our families to do up here in the Northwoods. We don’t have a lot of large opportunities for families just to get together. Families can’t afford most things. This is just a great way to give back to the local community. Let families get out and play together and be together.

All the riders were taken to the hospital for observation.